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The Role of Business Networks in Market Development in Sub‐Saharan Africa

Marcel Fafchamps

in Communities and Markets in Economic Development

This chapter examines the role of business networks in market development and community formation in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is shown that for firms above a minimum size, relational contracting is the ... More

This chapter examines the role of business networks in market development and community formation in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is shown that for firms above a minimum size, relational contracting is the rule in markets for agricultural products, and manufacturing inputs and outputs. The important roles of relationships in facilitating market exchange are documented. The role of community affiliation in the membership of business networks is then examined. It is argued that entry into existing networks is biased, and that referral by family and friends is the most likely cause of ethnic concetration.Less

Partners across Borders: Organizational Learning and the Flagship Firm  

Alan M. Rugman and Joseph R. D’cruz

in Multinationals as Flagship Firms: Regional Business Networks

The goal of this section is to formulate a conceptual paradigm for a new organisational option for the government of markets and classes. Along with this is the introduction and incorporation of the ... More

The goal of this section is to formulate a conceptual paradigm for a new organisational option for the government of markets and classes. Along with this is the introduction and incorporation of the five partners model of business networks in pursuing structural reforms through mutual links, non-profit institutions, and non-business establishments. According to the model, healthy competition in the market, together with collaborative corporate actions, enhances the effectiveness of business policies and lessens the damage produced by opportunism. Also, inter-corporation connections work at their best when asymmetric regulation of the most dominant – or the flagship – firm on the strategic course of the network is present. Such a scenario is due to the fact that asymmetric control has influences on perceived and actual reliance, permanence, and knowledge widening among the members of the group without compromising the individual functions of specific industries.Less

e-Business and the New Economy

Manuel Castells

in The Internet Galaxy: Reflections on the Internet, Business, and Society

This chapter defines e-Business as any business activity whose performance of the key operations of management, financing innovation, production, distribution, sales, employee relations, and customer ... More

This chapter defines e-Business as any business activity whose performance of the key operations of management, financing innovation, production, distribution, sales, employee relations, and customer relations predominantly takes place by or on the Internet or other networks of computer networks regardless of the kind of connection between the virtual and the physical dimensions of the firm. It evaluates the transformation of the practice of the firm, the relationship between the Internet and capital markets, the role of work and flexible employment practices in the networking business model, and the specificity of innovation in the economy, at the source of labour productivity growth. It also proposes some hypotheses regarding the characteristics of the new business cycle and of potential crises, prompted by a sharp downturn in the value of technology stocks in financial markets, based on the observation of the period from March 2000 to March 2001.Less

The Canadian Telecommunications Network

Alan M. Rugman and Joseph R. D’cruz

in Multinationals as Flagship Firms: Regional Business Networks

The authors provide an introduction to the five partners paradigm of business networks as another option for the governance of organisational hierarchies and markets. Such a model is further analysed ... More

The authors provide an introduction to the five partners paradigm of business networks as another option for the governance of organisational hierarchies and markets. Such a model is further analysed using the Canadian Telecommunications Network. In Canada, business networks are viewed as containing processes and features that positively contribute to the cost reduction inflicted by non-diversification of assets and by opportunism. Flagship firms play a vital role in the efficient delivery of the responsibilities and successful fulfilment of expectations from business networks. With the asymmetric strategic management and supervision of activities, these multinational enterprises improve the effectiveness of governance structure, specifically in the areas of inter-institutional dependence, stability, and knowledge development. In other words, the application of the guiding principles of the five partners model in Canada has enhanced the country’s market position and competence in the telecommunications field.Less

The Flagship Firm and the Five Partners Business Network

Alan M. Rugman and Joseph R. D’cruz

in Multinationals as Flagship Firms: Regional Business Networks

Local and global competitive advantages in the corporate world are made possible by the active involvement of business leaders in the improvement and management of international business networks. ... More

Local and global competitive advantages in the corporate world are made possible by the active involvement of business leaders in the improvement and management of international business networks. Because of conflicting and sometimes limited categorisations of the concept, it is hereby defined according to the notion of strategic clusters; and eventually, allows the view of ‘business networks’ as a group of corporations within a given geographic location; all of which operate under the same industry or closely associated sets of industries. With its significant role, crucial compositions of an effective and efficient network are classified, including the responsibilities of the state and the non-business infrastructures. Creative advancement intervention attempts will then be presented using the Canadian context and its conceptual framework.Less

Internalization and Deinternalization: Will Business Networks Replace Multinationals?

Alan M. Rugman and Joseph R. D’cruz

in Multinationals as Flagship Firms: Regional Business Networks

In order to respond to the question that the title poses, this section enumerates the terms and conditions of business regulations and competitive techniques. These topics are taken into account by ... More

In order to respond to the question that the title poses, this section enumerates the terms and conditions of business regulations and competitive techniques. These topics are taken into account by the internalisation planning sessions and implementation activities conducted by a multinational enterprise (MNE). Leaning towards the contemporary theory of the MNE, corporate leaders recognise that proprietary privileges result in optimal returns when positioned in the international scene. Since there are some shortcomings cited in this endeavour, attention is turned into deinternalisation, especially when the negative outcomes offset the positive consequences of internalisation. In this regard, the author focuses on the various forms, features, and underlying theories of deinternalisation that are commonly utilised by business networks in their objectives to increase production and maximise profit.Less

Forces of Local Association

Robert J. Bennett

in Local Business Voice: The History of Chambers of Commerce in Britain, Ireland, and Revolutionary America, 1760-2011

This chapter reviews the main academic and practitioner discussions of what gives chambers their USP. It explores how unity of voice is developed through deliberation. It shows that earlier academic ... More

This chapter reviews the main academic and practitioner discussions of what gives chambers their USP. It explores how unity of voice is developed through deliberation. It shows that earlier academic views of instability of early chambers are overstated. The forces underpinning collective action and free-rider behaviour are examined to demonstrate how chamber service bundles develop: as trust goods based on transaction costs and networking advantages. Institutional benefits and social capital assist chamber development. Additions to service bundles from government contracts are shown to have tensions of ‘non-preferred’ goods. Political non-alignment, and social networks are critical aspects of the historical and modern chamber brand. However, at critical points chambers have been ‘elite’ social movements that have participated in changing frames and policy repertoires; especially during times of extreme contention.Less

The Theory of the Flagship Firm

Alan M. Rugman and Joseph R. D’cruz

in Multinationals as Flagship Firms: Regional Business Networks

A flagship firm is a multinational establishment which has come up with a business network consisting of four major partners: leading providers, clients, competitors, and non-business ... More

A flagship firm is a multinational establishment which has come up with a business network consisting of four major partners: leading providers, clients, competitors, and non-business infrastructures. The prevalence of business networks are common in sectors that have absorbed and employed internalisation and globalisation. Control over all the operations and scope of responsibilities of all the partners is contained under the flagship firm’s authority. Members of the network are ensured with heightened trade levels, mutual reinforcements, cooperative undertakings, competitive advantage in both local and international markets, and secured long-range contracts, provided that they continue with their membership of the flagship firm. Strategic management components, type of leadership, organisational structure, and other features of this system are included in the discussion.Less

The French Telecommunications Network

Alan M. Rugman and Joseph R. D’cruz

in Multinationals as Flagship Firms: Regional Business Networks

After identifying the implications of D’Cruz’s and Rugman’s five partners model using the Canadian telecommunications industry, the same sector is examined in France. Similarly, the authors intend to ... More

After identifying the implications of D’Cruz’s and Rugman’s five partners model using the Canadian telecommunications industry, the same sector is examined in France. Similarly, the authors intend to discover the kind of relationship and the effective mechanisms of France telecom with its providers, clients, competitors, and non-business infrastructures. Data from France are compared with the gathered information in Alcatel telecom with the aim of classifying the strategic management actions of the firms involved, and to determine regional, local, and international strategies with the objective of achieving competitiveness in the telecommunications sector. Findings show that France telecom promotes cooperative activities and mutual distribution of resources with partner institutions, while Alcatel upholds the more conventional notion of multiple clustering and autonomous management of multinational establishments.Less

The 'Public' Face of Female Enterprise

Hannah Barker

in The Business of Women: Female Enterprise and Urban Development in Northern England 1760-1830

This chapter builds upon Chapter 2's depiction of the ubiquity of women in business, and examines their appearance in advertising at the centre of business networks, and their physical presence in ... More

This chapter builds upon Chapter 2's depiction of the ubiquity of women in business, and examines their appearance in advertising at the centre of business networks, and their physical presence in town centres. It also examines the ways in which businesswomen represented themselves in public, and suggests that occupation could be central to middling notions of femininity, in addition to those 'domestic' qualities often associated with women in this period.Less

The Organization of Japanese Business Networks

Michael L. Gerlach

in Alliance Capitalism: The Social Organization of Japanese Business

This chapter discusses enterprise groups of Japanese industrial organization. It outlines the general patterns of relationships common to business networks in market economies and investigates how ... More

This chapter discusses enterprise groups of Japanese industrial organization. It outlines the general patterns of relationships common to business networks in market economies and investigates how these are reflected in specific alliance patterns. The analyses reveal show that ownership structures of Japanese corporations are far more likely than in the U.S.A. to be organized as table relationships which endure over decades, to be reciprocated among mutually positioned companies.Less

Milieus for Discourse and Deliberation

Robert J. Bennett

in Local Business Voice: The History of Chambers of Commerce in Britain, Ireland, and Revolutionary America, 1760-2011

This chapter breaks new ground in showing how early chambers were intimately involved in commercial coffee house, exchanges and other initiatives to providing meeting places and drop-in facilities ... More

This chapter breaks new ground in showing how early chambers were intimately involved in commercial coffee house, exchanges and other initiatives to providing meeting places and drop-in facilities for discussion. More than half of the early chambers were joint developers of coffee rooms, hotels, subscription libraries, or exchanges. This was critical to their need for deliberation on policy threats, but also interrelated with their underpinning networks in local communities. Entirely new material on Liverpool, Waterford, Cork, Glasgow, Dublin, Dundee, and Newcastle reveals some of the strongest links. Analysis of the content of chamber reading rooms and libraries shows their economic focus, but overlap with social exchange and politeness. Subsequent developments demonstrate milieus as critical parts of the USP until modern times; replaced by web and e-communications in the modern chamber.Less

Networks

in ‘Merely for Money’?: Business Culture in the British Atlantic, 1750–1815

This chapter examines the problematic nature of business networks in the British Atlantic during the period from 1750 to 1815. It provides case studies on the different definitions and the function ... More

This chapter examines the problematic nature of business networks in the British Atlantic during the period from 1750 to 1815. It provides case studies on the different definitions and the function of networks and considers some of the problems associated with networks. This chapter explains that networks comprised groups of people that formed associations with the explicit or implicit expectation of mutual benefit and that their success varied greatly.Less

Producing an Oligopoly

Thomas Barker

in Indonesian Cinema after the New Order: Going Mainstream

Even with the entry of new filmmakers, production companies, and investors, the Indonesian film industry remains dominated by an oligopoly of old producers. In identifying this group, this chapter ... More

Even with the entry of new filmmakers, production companies, and investors, the Indonesian film industry remains dominated by an oligopoly of old producers. In identifying this group, this chapter traces their connections back to the 1960s and their consolidation throughout the New Order. With significant presence in television production, these producers are both now wealthy and well-connected, allowing them to reassert themselves in the reformed post-1998 film industry. Largescale capital has been important to the systemisation of film production for the mainstream market but speaks to the legacy structures of the New Order.Less

Managing Business Model Transformation

Henk Volberda, Frans van den Bosch, and Kevin Heij

in Reinventing Business Models: How Firms Cope with Disruption

Chapter 7 describes the decisive role of management in business model innovation. It considers each of the approaches in the business model innovation matrix and examines the role played by top and ... More

Chapter 7 describes the decisive role of management in business model innovation. It considers each of the approaches in the business model innovation matrix and examines the role played by top and middle managers. It gives the example of how TomTom went through a recursive cycle of renewal and replication, with a visionary CEO as the main driver. A number of potential traps in business model innovation and how managers may avoid them are discussed. This chapter explores various warning signs that might indicate to management that a change of business model is required and examines, through case examples, the many different ways in which firms can combine replication and renewal.Less

The Red Mafia

Peng Wang

in The Chinese Mafia: Organized Crime, Corruption, and Extra-Legal Protection

Chapter 5 discusses how corrupt public officials (Red Mafia) employ guanxi networks to obtain and distribute corrupt benefits. It examines the way in which public officials and businesspeople make ... More

Chapter 5 discusses how corrupt public officials (Red Mafia) employ guanxi networks to obtain and distribute corrupt benefits. It examines the way in which public officials and businesspeople make use of guanxi networks to accumulate wealth and obtain promotion. Corrupt transactions—either within the political sector or between the public and private sectors—are co-ordinated and safeguarded by corrupt guanxi networks. By analysing the corrupt practices of selling military positions and establishing business–politics networks, this chapter looks at how guanxi networks minimize the transaction costs of corruption by securing information transmission, recruiting high-quality members, enforcing agreements, and monitoring members’ behaviour.Less

Open Strategy: Transparency and Inclusion

Richard Whittington

in Opening Strategy: Professional Strategists and Practice Change, 1960 to Today

This chapter examines the development of open strategy practices from the late 1990s. Open strategy involves greater transparency about strategy to internal and external audiences, and greater ... More

This chapter examines the development of open strategy practices from the late 1990s. Open strategy involves greater transparency about strategy to internal and external audiences, and greater inclusion for internal and external stakeholders. The contemporary rise of open strategy is supported by three exogenous forces: the dissolving of organizational boundaries internally and externally, a newly democratic working culture, and new technologies, especially social media. Nevertheless, open strategy’s development still involves two kinds of arduous and fallible institutional work: ‘rule-making’ and ‘resource-organizing’. As examples of the first, Gary Hamel’s Strategos Consulting promoted new kinds of democratic strategy norms, while corporates such as IBM developed internal openness through its jams. Under the second, new consulting firms were created such as Global Business Network, while established corporations such as Barclays Bank, Nokia, and Shell had to organize new kinds of participative strategy process.Less